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"I noticed," she replied, glancing toward the ridge where corpses still lay somewhere behind them in the distance.
Sekhmet exhaled.
"You should not have come," he said.
Lily's eyes sharpened.
"And you should not be here," she replied. "But here we are. The forest is so vast yet we meet…"
Sekhmet stared at her, then looked away, because something about the way she said it made the past feel too close.
Bat Bat chose that moment to flutter off Sekhmet's shoulder and land directly on Lily's lap without asking permission.
Plop.
Lily blinked, surprised.
Bat Bat looked up at her with wide eyes, then spoke with childlike confidence.
"Pretty."
One of the guards stiffened. Another stared like he had seen a ghost. A talking blood tiny bat was not normal and common, even in Null.
Lily stared down at Bat Bat.
Then she slowly smiled.
"You are adorable," she whispered, as if she might scare it away if she spoke louder.
Bat Bat puffed up proudly.
"I Bat Bat," it declared.
Lily's eyes widened.
"Bat Bat," she repeated softly. "That is your name?"
Bat Bat nodded vigorously.
"Yes!"
Lily laughed, and the sound was warm enough that even the guards looked slightly less tense.
She gently stroked Bat Bat's head with one finger. The bat leaned into it shamelessly.
"Where did you find a cute bat," Lily asked, eyes still on Bat Bat, voice lighter now.
Sekhmet's expression stayed controlled.
"I learned a summon technique," he said carefully. "He is the result."
Lily looked up at him, amused.
"You summoned a talking baby bat."
Sekhmet stared at her.
"I did not summon the talking part," he said.
Bat Bat looked offended.
"I talk!" it shouted.
Sekhmet sighed.
Lily giggled again, then her eyes softened.
"If I like him," she said slowly, "can I keep him."
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
"No."
Bat Bat gasped dramatically.
Lily smiled, not offended.
"Fine," she said. "Then can I have one too?"
Sekhmet hesitated.
He could refuse. But he didn't…
He had fifty minion bats in the void land, low intelligence, and loyal. Giving Lily one as a pet or scout would be possible.
But giving someone a summon tied to his blood system felt like giving away a piece of his secret.
He kept his face neutral.
"If you still want one after you see how much they eat," he said, "we can talk."
Bat Bat nodded like an expert.
"They eat lot," it said.
Lily's smile widened.
"I can handle it," she said.
Sekhmet's gaze sharpened slightly.
"What exactly are you looking for," he asked again, returning to the serious part.
Lily's expression shifted. She glanced toward her guards, then back at Sekhmet.
"Not here," she said quietly. "Not with open ears. I will tell you when we are closer to the border territory."
Sekhmet studied her. She was not lying. She was careful.
That meant the thing she hunted mattered.
He nodded once.
"Fine," he said.
Lily exhaled, then her expression brightened suddenly as if she remembered something.
"Oh," she said, "I almost forgot."
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
Lily sat up straighter.
"Your uncle told me to give you a message when I see you," she said. "I planned to give it to you in the city. But since we met here…"
She reached into her travel pouch and pulled out a small stone.
It was not a chaos stone.
It was darker, smoother, with faint lines running through it like veins. It felt… heavy, even from where Sekhmet sat. Not physically heavy, but spiritually heavy, like it had authority.
Lily held it out.
"He told me to give you this," she said. "He said your father will be out for a few months. He is going out too. If you return before him, or if he is late for some reason… you need this."
Sekhmet took the stone.
The moment it touched his palm, his skin prickled. The stone's chaos energy felt refined, controlled, and old.
Sekhmet activated Blood Eye automatically.
[System notification- Keystone.
Type: Control Artifact
Origin: God-forged chaos energy imprint
Purpose: Key to external training suppression tool
Compatibility: Paired control node
Classification: Nightmare Grade 1 (paired set)]
Sekhmet's eyes widened slightly.
A keystone.
God-forged imprint.
Paired set.
Nightmare grade one.
He looked up at Lily slowly.
"This is…" he began, then stopped.
Lily watched him closely.
"He told me it is to remove your training tool," she said quietly. "That is what he said. He did not explain further. Just… that you would understand."
Sekhmet stared at the keystone, then at the fire, then into the darkness beyond the camp.
His throat tightened.
This was not a small thing.
A paired control node meant the training suppression on him was not just a random seal. It was a crafted tool, controlled, adjustable.
Meaning the moment he removed it, his true battle power would reveal itself.
Sekhmet's breathing slowed.
Lily's voice softened.
"Will you return to the city," she asked.
Sekhmet looked at her. He could not explain everything.
He would not explain the blood system. He would not explain the abyss artifact. He would not explain how he drank blood to survive. Those were secrets that could get him hunted by gods if spoken in the wrong place.
But he could answer this.
"Yes," he said. "I am returning."
Lily's shoulders eased again.
"Good," she said. "Then let us travel together."
Sekhmet hesitated for a heartbeat.
Traveling with Lily meant safety in numbers, but also attention. People would notice a city lord's daughter. Enemies would chase her. Opportunists would try to ransom. Monsters would gather.
But it also meant information, a clearer route, trained guards, and someone he trusted — at least as much as anyone could be trusted in Null.
Sekhmet nodded once.
"Okay," he said.
Lily smiled, genuine and bright.
Then she leaned back and looked at the fire, letting warmth paint her face.
"You saved me," she said quietly.
Sekhmet stared at the flames.
"You were annoying when you were twelve," he said instead.
Lily's head snapped toward him, offended and delighted.
"I was not annoying," she protested.
Sekhmet's mouth twitched.
"You followed me all day," he said.
"I was protecting you," Lily replied instantly.
"You were shorter than my shoulder," Sekhmet said.
"I was still protecting you," Lily insisted.
Bat Bat nodded vigorously on Lily's lap.
"She protect," Bat Bat said, serious as if it had witnessed their childhood.
Sekhmet stared at the bat.
"You were not even alive," he muttered.
Bat Bat blinked.
"I always alive," it said confidently.
Lily laughed again, and the guards, still tense, looked a little less like statues and a little more like humans.
The night stretched on.
They spoke softly, trading small stories that did not touch secrets. Lily spoke about the training halls she had endured, about instructors who hit harder than they taught, about rivals who smiled while planning to sabotage. Sekhmet spoke about purgatory in a careful way, leaving out the blood and the system, focusing on terrain, survival, and battles that sounded like normal hardship rather than supernatural transformation.
They laughed once when Lily described a senior student who tried to impress her by summoning a "legendary beast" that turned out to be a glorified chicken with delusions of greatness.
Bat Bat laughed hardest.
"Heh!"
Sekhmet stared at the sky at one point, watching stars that looked slightly wrong in Null, as if even the heavens had been rewritten by chaos principles.
He held the keystone in his palm, feeling its weight.
He did not use it tonight.
Not yet.
He needed time.
He needed space.
He needed to choose the right moment to remove the suppression, because the moment it happened, everything would change.
But for now, he allowed himself something rare.
A quiet night. A familiar voice. A fire that was not watched alone. And laughter that did not sound like madness.